Hanging on

Nathan hanging on to his last thread of "awakeness" right before his slumber today.

Christmas 2009

Where to start?.....

We made the stop to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas. Some were more excited than others. I was happy because this was the first year I didn't have to sit on Santa's lap also.
Our Christmas Eve was mostly cooking, some cleaning and included finalizing the Nativity scene (she's lining them up in the correct order while brother is asleep and can't destroy it)... making sure baby Octopus (who was doubling as baby Jesus) was comfortable lying in the manger... and getting all cutsied-up for Christmas Eve Candlelight service.
Christmas morning started with my little boy booger waking up at 5:15 and I somehow got him back to sleep. Which then made waiting for my alarm to go off at 6 useless so I got myself ready and was somewhat presentable for pictures this year.

I gently woke up Katherine about 7 and asked her if she wanted to check on the Chex mix and water we left outside for the reindeer (they get hungry also). With gentle guidance she turned toward the front door, instead of the living room (whew!), and we examined the remnants. She pointed out how there were a couple of pieces they left, and Gracie was much obliged to finish them off. Then with the video camera, I was lucky enough to capture her face lighting up as she came back inside and saw her gift from Santa parked in front of the Christmas tree. A purple and white bicycle, with stars, and red bows on it left there the night before.

Time to try it out.It worked, and after a little seat adjustment, we were making paths for her to ride around the house with Nathan chasing her screaming at the top of his lungs.

This year, with Santa's grand presentation and all, we didn't keep the tradition alive of reading the Luke 2 passage, describing the birth story, before opening all the presents. So, after they were all opened, I did my best to paraphrase the bible to make it interesting for two eager-beavers, and then we sang happy birthday to Jesus.
Christmas morning pictures are always so flattering.
Christmas morning breakfast is no exception to Nathan when it comes to adding food to his hair (that's a grape on top of his head, mixed in with banana slime). And is there a need to remove the bike helmet and kneed pads just because you want to play with your new princess stamp set? I think not.
I think Santa liked the chocolate milk and cookies.
Some more pics of the morning's activities.
Christmas morning, we had our big breakfast at our house with my parents and grandparents stopping by, and after lunch and naps, we went down to visit Jim's parents and brothers. The next day during supper, we got to visit with my brother and his family and my aunt and uncle. All in all, we got much more than we deserve, the playroom needs re-arranging and lots of new lights and sounds fill our home.

Christmas is so different now, and different in much better ways. I appreciate more all the preparation, planning, thoughts and work that go into everything people do and every gift they buy. I enjoy seeing it through my children's eyes coupled with a set of "wisdom" glasses to keep it all in focus. I certainly get stressed out much more, which is not fun, but when children are excited and thankful, family members set aside differences for a day, and I get a chance to truly think about our greatest gift, it makes it all worth it.

I want to be just like you...

I saw this on my Facebook account and it made me wonder if my daughter would say the same about me this season.

And this one I read on a blog I've become a big fan of (Stretch Marks).

Thank you Lord.

Thank you, that when I close my eyes and cry at this time of year,

I cannot help but see you in a manger filled with hay.

I cannot help but be reminded that the flesh you wore was mine -

and it was filled with pain and sin and utter disappointment.

And still, you took it on. And wore it.

Making my hurt, your hurt.

Making my pain, your pain.

Making my sin, your reason.

Thank you that every loss I've ever had was no surprise to you.

And every tear I've shed has been saved.

And thank you that instead of coming to this earth in a splash of royalty -

in a palace full of kings and thrones -

you came in a barn.

Full of splinters and straw.

For you knew that one day, when I closed my eyes,

I would need to envision something realistic.

And I know splinters better than I know fine china.

So thank you, for thinking ahead.

Both of these were wonderful wake-up calls for me.
Merry Christmas!

Girl's Night Out

"These economic times" have really opened up a new and exciting time of getting creative when it comes to finding fun and inexpensive things to do, and this just happens to be a perfect time of the year to take advantage of many of them. Our latest outing was special in so many ways...

We went to a free ballet here in town. It was put on by a local Christian ballet school that's been around for over 25 years. Katherine was excited about wearing her new super-twirl dress and seeing big girls in "beau-tee-ful" dresses, dancing. She was also very excited that Mer and Bamah came along. And the icing on the cake was our best buddies Miss A and AC coming along also.

Are these two cute or what?

What made this trip so extra special (for me at least) was knowing that our little girl has both of her grandmothers living close that can do special things like this. Not many little girls can say that. It was a girl's night out and with her being a card-carrying, registered-and-paid-the-fees girly-girl, it was very exciting for her. What more could a girl want? Twirl dress, mommy, both grandmas, best buddy, dinner at her favorite restaurant and refined, up-scale entertainment.

Little Miss Shy decided to poke her head out of the shell a little bit that night also. After the show was over, she thought it would be the perfect time for her to perform. Up on the stage, she practiced twirling and jumping all with hands in the air.I enjoy having a girl so much. My girly-girl side was put on the back burner, if not lost for a loooonnnng time, so painting fingernails, getting dressed up and talking about girl-stuff is so much more special now, because she's the one that brought it back.

Some Wednesday fun

Is this good sleep or what?

Nathan learning how to say grace before the meal. Sometimes, it takes a little too long for his liking.

Some back yard fun this morning...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Picture Memories

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, so here goes...

I finally took down and dusted off the photo albums from our childhood eager to see some, if any, resemblances forming in our kids. I was surprised to see less resemblances in places I thought were there and more in places I didn't even recognize. Bottom line is: our kids are individuals who will turn out to be whatever God intends them to be. Although, they are our offspring and have inherited some of what we have to offer, so it's fun to compare.

These first ones are of Jim and I and tickled me so when looking at the youngest pictures of us; noticing how different we were, even from birth.

Jim - 6 weeks oldMe - 2 months old

Jim - 15 months oldMe - 17 months old
2 years old
3 years old
4 years old

For possible comparisons...

This one is not so much that our looks are similar as much as our ATTITUDE (hers just isn't captured in her picture, but it's there, trust me)! (What was I doing wearing a sweater over a bathing suit anyway?)
And Nathan will probably want to strangle me for this one, because no boy wants to look like his mama I know, but the pictures looked similar to me. I'm 3 months and he's 4 months.
These are just some random ones of me. (FYI: I didn't have any other ones of Jim to scan in or I would have. He was the third child and I was the first. I can certainly relate to taking less pictures of Nathan already)

17 months

3 years

Some random pics of the kids

Katherine - 1 year
18 months
2 years
3 years
Nathan - 5 months
8 months
1 year

I've enjoyed going through these. What do you think?

The Reindeer did Run

I'm pooped, so here's the short version.

I ran it. Only did 3 minutes of speed-walking.

Managed to make 3.1 miles in less than 38 minutes. (stop laughing)

My hope to not be the absolute last person to complete the race was granted.

My daughter and I ran the Rudolph Dash together (about 1/5 mile), right before the 5K. Well, about 3/4 of it and then she declared she was done.My husband and two adorable children were there to cheer me on, the reddest-faced runner (I think I cause people to be concerned because of how red my face gets). And within an hour my face turned to that nice healthy pink us ladies buy blush for.

I am so thankful to have very kind-hearted people to run with that slow it down for the turtles.I'm ready for bed.

The turkey-day-thru-new-year mania begins

It's been a while since a post. "We've just been busy", is my excuse.

I'm sure I've been hit by the crazy bus. Hit harder than normal at least. I have practiced for, registered and paid for a 5K run I plan to participate in tomorrow. Although my practicing has been more like a boa constrictor eats; a LOT in a short amount of time. I don't enjoy running. It's one of those exercise things. I'm much better at restricting my diet than actually making time to exert extraneous amounts of energy. Cleaning the house from top to bottom is way more interesting and exciting to me than running. I think this little "crazy moment" of mine is stemming from the pinnacle of being frustrated with having no life when Jim was at the tail end of finishing up grad school. I think something to the effect of this was said, "You just wait. When you graduate, I'm going to do something where I can get out of this house and release lots of energy, like go run a 5K or something." My intentions were to get on a schedule of regular running, even if just a mile or so, and hopefully build up to a 5K. Well the best-laid plans sometimes don't go as idealistically as we hope. I am officially the slowest "runner" of our church group (we're running together). The pastor's wife deemed herself the slowest but our 5am practice on Tuesday showed her that there was one other who had more turtle genetics pulsing through her veins. Good news is that I haven't fallen while running, passed out or had severe aches afterwards. Oh well, it's all in good fun, right?

Poor Katherine, she has to endure the painful journey of growing out her bangs with her mother, just because it's something I feel I must do about every 5 years or so (trying to stay hip you know?). I think an all-one-length cut will be cute on her petite face. Here, her and Nathan are enjoying snack time together.
Her and I got to do something extra special tonight. I am a self-proclaimed non-girly-girl when it comes to fashion, hair, make-up (overall appearance I guess). My daughter is all girl. Some comments she's made lately, "Mommy, I do not want to wear pants because they do not make me look beautiful" or "Will you make sure my hair looks like a princess" and one that prompted a conversation regarding her inner beauty this morning was "I need make-up to make me look prettier." (It's hard to have a conversation about inner beauty as I'm slathering the foundation on myself) So tonight the treat was that I painted her fingernails. I am a horrible mother for not painting her fingernails more often; it happens about 3 times a year. She LOVED it. The lighter mauve was there for color and the pink glitter on top was added for pizazz. I enjoyed holding her tiny hands in mine, watching her be careful not to touch anything until they dried and remembering how less than a year ago it would have been smeared within minutes. We topped it off with watching a full hour of "Say Yes to the Dress," one of her favorite big-people shows in addition to "Toddlers and Tiaras." She's declared she wants a long, white, flowing dress that twirls. A little princess, she is.
Jim is growing a beard in preparation for our church's annual Nativity Pageant. Katherine's question to him earlier this week was, "Is Nathan going to grow a mustache and beard?" It is just fascinating to me to watch their minds expand and figure things out.
Speaking of the Nativity Pageant, here's the flier. Come if you can, it's a top-notch production, very kid-friendly and an opportunity to create great memories for your family.Nathan's first attempt at eating an ear of corn. The child has another 3 teeth coming in: 2 molars and a third on the bottom. His teeth come in waves: all or nothing.

Daddy is so much better at finding time to play the fun stuff than mommy is.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I think the fascination with the diaper rash creme has more to do with me not wanting them to play with it. She wants to put it on her hands like lotion and he wants to carry it around, open it and occasionally suck the open end.

I made the mistake of leaving Destructo in the same room as the shredded paper container I was seconds away from emptying...I tried to make the best of it and turn it into a fun tactile experience but he was disturbed that some of the papers were down his shirt scratching him.

And lastly, yesterday was the perfect example of how busy my mind has been all this week. I was in charge of giving my testimony to our MOPS group of about 60 ladies; a little nervous was I? So nervous, I locked my keys in the car, had my wonderful friend Miss A. drive us home to pick up another set of car keys after our wonderful neighbors opened the house door using a spare key and kept Nathan for about 45 minutes, then Miss A. drove me to pick up Katherine from her school before the severe late penalty started accruing, then to pick up the car and back home for lunch. I have AWESOME friends! There's no telling how much money and grief could have happened if those three weren't there for me. God Bless you!